from the margins: perspectives on the built environment

from the margins: perspectives on the built environment

This podcast is an open forum for intersectional conversations on topics of marginalization and oppression with researchers, artists, designers, and activists who transgress the limits of cultural production through resistance, justice, and liberation.

1st season hosted by German Pallares

2nd season hosted by Germán Pallares & Jose Brunner

In this episode, the last of this season, we talk with Shalini Agrawal an architect who has over 25 years of experience engaging communities of all ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic statuses in collaborative design workshops. We talk to her about her practice and how she brings equity and diversity to design, art, and architecture. We discuss with her her work on the Decolonial School at the California College of the Arts and her teachings on community engagement within the fields of design and architecture.

At the end of this episode, we say goodbye to this season, and invite our listeners to give their feedback, and who would they like to hear on our next season.

In this episode, we talk with Chris E. Vargas, a video maker & interdisciplinary artist whose work deploys humor and performance in conjunction with mainstream idioms to explore the complex ways that queer and trans people negotiate spaces for themselves within historical & institutional memory and popular culture. We talked with him about his web-based trans/cisgender sitcom Falling In Love...with Chris and Greg, and Homotopia and its feature-length sequel Criminal Queers movies. We have an extensive conversation about MOTHA, the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art, a critical and conceptual arts & hirstory institution highlighting the contributions of trans art to the cultural and political landscape.

In this episode, we talk with Josemar González, a Multi-Disciplinary Artist & Community Organizer with extensive experience in both the Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California regions. We discussed with about his work with various independent arts organizations, and how they collaborate to help educate using the arts as a means of communication. He talks about his interest in using video, photography, installation, audio, technology, and various creative mediums to document and do storytelling to deconstruct human experiences. 

In this episode we talk with Sarah L. Lopez about her interest in the history of the built environment. We talk about her book the The Remittance Landscape: The Spaces of Migration in Rural Mexico and Urban USA and her upcoming book, which is interested in the history of the México/US border and immigration through the materials. Sarah Lopez discusses her interest in the built environment, her family and personal histories, and how it has informed her scholarship. 

Recommendations

  • Border Land, Border Water, by C.J. Alvarez

In this episode, we talk with Mahdi Sabbagh, an architect and urbanist based in New York City, about his scholarship on Palestinian resistance and liberation. We discuss with him, how his work as a scholar and practice relate to each other. Mahdi talks to us about his publications and writing.

In this episode, we talk with popular educator, writer, translator, and seed-saver Linda Quiquivix about her activism work. Her work within academia and activism, and how these inform each other.  We explore with her future "new worlds"  for communities and liberation movements based on Zapatista activism. We talk about the publications she is working on, and the work Grietas journal will be putting forward. 

#liberationmovements #activism #possiblefutures #zapatistas #grietas

In this episode, we talk with Harsha Walia about her work as an activist and her two published books. We learn about the interconnectivity of her activities as an activist and scholar, the work of resistance, and the importance of collectivity.  We discuss colonization, borders as colonial tools, and possible futures for borders.


#abolitionism #politics #interconnection #solidarity #connectivity #borderandrule #undoingborderimperialism #podcast #border #rule

In this episode, we talk with Ersela Kripa about her work as an architect, researcher, and educator. Her book project in collaboration with Stephen Mueller, and their work at Agency. We also talk about her experience as an immigrant and border dweller, and how this influences all of her work.

In this episode, we talk with Bernadine Hernández about her new book Border Bodies. We discuss the exploitation of brown women's bodies in the southwest and the México - US border. We talk about her work as an activist, teaching, and artistic endeavors.

Recommendations. 

In this episode with talk with Vreni Michelini-Castillo about her transdisciplinary artistic practice, her spirituality, and her teaching. How all of them are connected, and how these practices bring a different light to mexican artists in the territory now known as the United States.  We get to hear from her about the Fluid Mutualism symposium project, and the Color Theory book. 

This episode was recorded on Apr 13, 2022

In this episode with talk with artist Arleene Correa Valencia about the empowerment of one's identity and its representation in art. Arleene shares with us her life history and how that has influenced her work.Episode Recorded 04/12/22

Recommendations

Films/ I'm no longer here. Directed by Fernando Frías. 2019. Available on Netflix

Books/ Girlhood in the Borderlands. Mexican Teens Caught in the Crossroads of Migration. By Lidia Soto

The Distance Between. By Reyna Grande

Artists

In this episode, we discuss the dynamics of power in relation to the built environment and academic circles with Cruz Garcia from Wai Think Tank. Cruz talks about his scholarship and their work as pedagogues, the receptivity of academic institutions to their work, and the pushback to"normalizing" this curriculum in schools of architecture. 

You can find more about Wai Think Tank and their work, here. / Episode recorded on Apr 11, 2022.

Recommendations.  / Antes que Isla es Volcan / Before Island is Volcano by Raquel Salas Rivera

Gold Medal Winner of the Juan Felipe Herrera Award for Bilingual Poetry. From the National Book Award-nominated, Lambda Award-winning poet: a powerful, inventive new collection that looks to the future of Puerto Rico with love, rage, beauty, and hope.

Colonial Debts. The Case of Puerto Rico. by Rocio Zambrana

Subjects: Postcolonial and Colonial Studies, Theory and Philosophy > Marxism, Caribbean Studies

Sound editing by @risd1877 student Jade Cannata @thetripwalker.

A new beginning, expanding directions. In this episode, I present new co-host, Jose Brunner @joeybrunner. We talk about last season's best moments and lessons learned. We also discuss the changes we are making to the podcast, the new guests that will be joining our conversations, and the importance of the human factor, the person, in the whole arc of their work.

Our new logo and image was designed by @risd1877 student Feifan Gao, with collaboration of @manueltrani . Sound editing done by @risd1877 student Jade Cannata @thetripwalker. We would like to thank RISD SEI Center their support #risdsei